San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after Friday's practice, providing final updates ahead of the team's Week 1 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"[CB] Charvarius Ward will be questionable. [TE] George Kittle questionable. Everyone else is good to go."
Is WR Ray-Ray McCloud good?
"Yep."
Will he be back there returning kicks?
"Not sure yet."
Obviously, everything's fine with S Talanoa Hufanga?
"Yes. Yeah, he had personal matter. He was out there today. Good to have him back and he's in good shape."
You seemed pretty confident yesterday on the radio about Charvarius. Any setbacks or anything?
"No, moving half speed today and he was able to go out there and hopefully he keeps getting better for Sunday."
How has DL Nick Bosa looked and what's sort of your updated expectation of him?
"He looked exactly how we were expecting him to look. Looks in real good shape. Looks ready to go."
Have you informed anybody of a roster move?
"We're doing that right now. So can't say right now."
Did George have a setback after that Chargers game?
"Yes."
Was he able to do much in practice this week?
"He was able to do enough to be limited."
Have you been able to formulate a plan for Bosa? I know you only saw him, this was his first real practice, but do you have a sense of how you're going to use him and how do you think you will?
"We got an idea how we're going to use him and I think he'll do all right."
Is there a level of concern just because he hasn't been hitting, throwing him into a first game like that?
"There always is. The hitting is less of the concern hitting it's just more about stamina of the game and things like that. I go back to 2021, Bosa tore his ACL in '20, didn't get any training camp in '21. We activated him for practice I think that last week. So, he got a week of practice. And versus Detroit, he played I think like 60 plays, was able to stay healthy and do stuff like that. We had him in practice a little bit more. We got that last week and stuff, but at least we have some stuff to go off with him. But the hitting and things like that don't concern me too much. It's more just positions you get the body in and things like that, which you're concerned with in general. So, we got to be smart with him and everything, but we'll see how the game plays out."
What's your plan for nickel back?
"Not sure yet."
I guess you guys haven't faced them in four years, but do you expect to be in your nickel more than maybe in the past just because of perhaps their kind of change of philosophy offensively?
"It really just depends how they play. We try not to make too many assumptions. You try to plan for everything, especially in Week One. Then you get an idea how the game goes, and then you adjust, and then they adjust and you see where it ends up at the end. But you got a plan to adjust to whatever it is, but we got to see what they're doing too."
Offensive Line/Run Game Coordinator Chris Forster was talking, maybe it was two weeks ago, about the most tired he ever sees an offensive line is after the first long series of the first game of the season because you just simply can't replicate the kind of stress and strain, not in the preseason or training camp or anything else. Is that a true for the whole team?
"Yes, very true. I think that gets stronger and stronger each year. Just the way the offseasons have become for everybody. The no offseason pretty much, especially for big guys. The smaller training camps. When you do have those smaller training camps, it's just how you got to build them up and things. It's hard to go on long drives and practice. We used to do that a lot, you just have more time and you try to get 10-play drives just for conditioning. Sometimes guys get so tired out there, it's hard to get hurt because they're not moving that fast. You don't get that as much as you used to, just with the time constraints and things like that. So I think that does show up more now than it used to."
If Kiittle can't go Sunday. How significant or difficult is it to replacing him like that? Not just in the passing game, but how instrumentally is his run blocker as well?
"Yeah, definitely in both of those because he's a great pass game tight end and he is a great run block tight end. So obviously anytime you're missing a great player, it does change things, but you're always are prepared for that. When you have an idea, it could be a possibility too. So it's better than being surprised."
Does K Matthew Wright make the trip or because K Jake Moody is off the list no need for him?
"I believe he's making the trip."
What have you seen from Moody and just how his leg is?
"I think he's looked good enough to be full."
